Tell No Tales
by Easarix
Summary: What if Crash's son, whom he never met, is actually Cortex's heir and gets stuck on N. Sanity Island all by himself? When he thought things couldn't become worse, the young bandicoot has to travel with his supposed nemesis, Crash Bandicoot, to get the rarest crystal on Earth in order to return home... and before Cortex finds it first.
1. The Heir

**_A/N: _**_Before we start, I want to announce my sincere thanks to ChicFlick97, because not only her CB fanfics are one of the best I've read on this site, but she also helped me with the plot. I don't like how I came up with Crash's personality in "Upheaval" (yes, I was the infamous thirteen-year-old __BeatrixDiSanti, shame on me_), although this story is still related to that fanfic but in an indirect way (this will be explained in future author's notes). I also want to warn all the readers who dare to read my new crappy fanfic that my humor is incredibly weak, and since I'm Portuguese, my grammar tends to be off every once in a while, so don't be scared to write a review on how to improve it.

_Thank you in advance. :)_

* * *

"Listen to me, Cade. You're fifteen years old, so you're old enough to understand exactly what I tell you."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Cade!"

"What?"

"Don't distract yourself!"

The evil scientist, whose black hair was already turning white, shouted into his son's ears. No one, not even his henchmen, ever guessed in a million years that the own Dr. Neo Cortex would raise and train an animal he hated the most of all: a bandicoot.

"I've been trying to lecture you for the past five minutes, but you're terribly absent-minded."

"Sorry, dad." Cade said, no more or less. Appearance-wise, the bandicoot was quite similar to Crash, although his mohawk was black and braid in a small, fluffy ponytail, along with a green eye on the left and a brown one on the right. He had a thin bandicoot tail which wasn't long enough to reach the floor, and just like his ears, it also had a black tip. If there was something he always disliked, though, was the suffocating white lab coat and red gloves he obligatorily had to wear.

"Excuses..." Cortex rolled his eyes in frustration. "Keep in mind that it's still _you_ who is going to be the next general of Cortex Commandos, not me."

"Yes, dad, I know."

"We shall take over this planet and turn everyone into mindless slaves, thus ordering them to do anything we want."

"Including free massages on my back and watch them killing each other in an overly stupid way?" Cade smiled.

"Don't be ridiculous." Cortex coldly replied. "This isn't one of your silly games, Cade. My intentions are a little more... different. In fact, I've always dreamed of a world where there's only corruption and misery, with me playing as the God, of course."

"I understand your desire of being everyone's boss, but... why so much negativity?" He raised an eyebrow.

Cortex couldn't help but sigh. Cade himself wasn't a failure, as his moves were fairly advanced when it came to his age and position in battle, but the scientist was also afraid that the bandicoot wasn't becoming evil enough whenever he asked those inopportune questions.

"Because 'negativity', as you call, is an essential feeling in this planet. Without it, happiness will dominate our brains, and then our values of what is right and what is wrong will forever be lost."

"I don't get it." Cade placed his hand behind his nape, confused. "So you're telling me that the world domination is all a matter of opinion?"

"Never mind."

Unable to maintain his patience, Cortex changed the course of the subject when he ordered the young bandicoot to follow him until a room that contained a large, green conference table, which was also the only one left intact in that castle after all those years dealing with the scientist's sudden moments of rage. As Cade finally arrived to the destined place, Cortex activated a hologram from the table's device, showing a picture of a 37-year-old Crash Bandicoot.

"Before you can achieve your rank, Cade, there's still one enemy that has been haunting my mind every single night for over twenty years: Crash Bandicoot."

"He doesn't look threatening to me." Cade stated, studying Crash's physical appearance from the hologram. "He even looks like a goofball."

"He may look like a goofball, but he's far more dangerous than you'll ever imagine." Cortex declared in a solemn tone. "In fact, he's still the main obstacle to my brilliant plans, thus he needs to be destroyed."

"Then why you don't send me to kill him?" He asked in a curious manner.

"Cade, Cade..." He softly laughed, placing a hand on the bandicoot's shoulders. "Your only purpose in life is to guide an army of mighty mutants to rule over the Earth. It's no coincidence on why I decided to keep you in this castle ever since you were born - in this case, created."

"But how am I supposed to be a general if I don't even know the inhabitants of the Wumpa Islands? Wouldn't it make more sense that way?"

"No." Cortex immediately shook his head. "The inhabitants of this stupid archipelago are nothing more than happy-go-lucky, innocent weaklings, so they aren't worth your fighting skills."

"Even the so-called hero known as Crash Bandicoot?"

Cortex stopped talking, taking a few seconds to sit to put his elbows on the table and adjust his dark-red cape. "It's me who is going to annihilate him when I get the chance, so you're dismissed for that kind of mission."

"But dad-"

"Do you still want to conquer the world, son?" He cut Cade's sentence off in a serious voice, frowning at him.

"Of course I want!" Cade almost shouted. "I always dreamed to be a general since I was little, but you never granted it."

"Then wait until we get rid of him, and I'll return your wish by providing you the best soldiers I can evolve."

Upset, Cade turned his back at the middle-aged scientist, and began to grumble in whispers so that he couldn't hear him. Aside the fact that Cade wasn't completely evil by heart, he was just as arrogant as Cortex and, although he was inquisitive to meet the inhabitants who also were his relatives, he was more glad to stay in a comfy base and give orders to the other scientists to do anything he wished. After all, being Cortex's favourite heir had a few exceptional advantages, too.

Unfortunately, despite being the little king at Cortex's castle, Cade had more enemies than he ever thought he would have. Doctor Nitrus Brio had still some sympathy for him, as he was the one who collected the two DNA samples that soon gave birth to the artificial bandicoot, but Cortex's cold-hearted niece, Nina, and the self-proclaimed master of time, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, were the ones who hated him the most. Doctor N. Gin hated him as well, as Cade used to mock him for having a missile lodged in his brain, even though Nina's degree of spite was far more superior.

After he left the room, Cade suddenly noticed N. Brio stepping inside. At first, he wanted to take a walk around the castle and tease Cortex's allies for self-pleasure, but the curiosity was such that he couldn't resist to listen to their conversation behind the electronic door.

"S-Sir, when are we g-going to catch the darn bandicoot?" N. Brio asked, as the stuttering in his voice could still be heard from the distance.

"As soon as we gather the last piece for our newest machine." Cortex answered, picking up a control remote of some sort, as he turned on a big screen which showed the map of N. Sanity Island. "In order to evaporate Crash Bandicoot and his pathetic family from existence in a matter of seconds, we need to find Earth's rarest power crystal."

"And that is, sir...?"

Another picture popped out on the screen. "The Blue Master Crystal. It looks like a regular crystal, but it's larger in size, not to mention two hundred times more powerful than the pink Master Crystal. Apparently, it's located in the middle of N. Sanity Island, somewhere inside the Cavern Catastrophe, which is basically a huge cave system."

"H-How do you know i-it's compatible with the machine?"

"The source of energy is exactly the same as the pink crystals, therefore I don't see which downside effects it can bring." Cortex explained. "Considering the fact that the Blue Master Crystal doesn't even have Slave Crystals of its own, the job will be easier, but the trip until there will be long. Either way, I will send my mutant minions to seek it for me, starting by tomorrow morning."

"I h-hope that the meddling bandicoot will go d-down this time, Dr. Cortex." N. Brio added.

Mysteriously, Cortex smirked at him. "I hope so, Brio. I _really_ hope so..."

Cade half-closed his eyes, annoyed. He couldn't be any more sick than to hear Crash Bandicoot here and there all day, though he wasn't surprised. Tired of standing in the same place with nothing to do, Cade eventually returned to his bedroom, which was located right on the top of the castle.


	2. Bye Bye Bandicoot

_**A/N: **This chapter contains a lot of nonsensical physics, but I had to rip off a scene from the DreamWorks movie "Madagascar" because it was the only way I could progress the second chapter to the third. Since Crash's universe doesn't make a lot of sense most of times, this is the only exception I can give when it comes to artistic liberty, so please don't hate me._

* * *

"You have _no_ idea how long I've been waiting to get rid of the little skunk..."

"Shut your mouth, N. Tropy! Can't you see that I'm trying to open this freaking door?"

As soon as everyone went to sleep, Nina Cortex and Dr. Nefarious Tropy took the slim opportunity to do only one objective they always waited for fifteen years: throw Cade Bandicoot out of the castle. It was already past midnight, so the two villains had to do their plan in the mere darkness, beginning with Nina's countless attempts at hacking Cade's door system in order to get inside his room.

"I don't know what went through my uncle's mind at the time, but if he thinks that another bandicoot will be suitable to be the next general of his idiotic army, then he really needs to see his brain checked." Nina whispered, clicking several buttons at the same time. Despite being an independent gothic woman, Nina's appearance as a whole didn't change much over the last twenty-two years, excluding the obvious upgrades on her bionic hands and longer hair which reached the end of her back. "I might not know a lot about computer science, but I think I'm almost done with it..."

At long last, the door finally opened, and the two allies cautiously entered inside the young bandicoot's bedroom. The space itself was actually tiny, since all Nina and N. Tropy saw was a shelf of books related to world dominance, a wardrobe full of lab coats from the same factory but in different colours, a bed, on which Cade was sleeping with its sheets covering his body, and an enormous window beside him. N. Tropy was in charge to bring a large wooden box with him, while Nina would be the one to remove Cade from his bed without waking him up.

"The initial part of my plan would've been choking Cade's neck with my hands, but then he'd scream his lungs out and my uncle would kick me out of the castle for a month." Nina remarked.

"Unfortunately, Cortex is too dumb to realize that this bandicoot is even a bigger mistake than Crash himself, so the faster we get rid of him, the better." N. Tropy stated.

"You know that's not the sole purpose on why I want to kill him, right?" She half-closed her eyes. "After all, I'm Cortex's freaking niece, therefore it's me who is supposed to continue his legacy and improve his faulty schemes, not the little brat."

"I seriously cannot wait until Cortex falls..." He added.

Slowly approaching Cade without making a noise, N. Tropy put the crate close to the bed, opening the lid as Nina carefully held the bandicoot into her strong arms. He was snoring as loud as a truck hitting a wall, which showed that his mind was at least lost in such unconsciousness.

"Eww..." After she placed the marsupial into the box, Nina couldn't help but show her tongue in utter disgust, as she cleaned her robotic hands by rubbing them back and forth on her shirt. N. Tropy eventually closed the lid with a blue laser coming from his upgraded tuning fork, and picked up the same crate again.

"Nina, open the window." He ordered. As the cyborg woman stepped until the window, she pushed a specific button that made the glass to automatically rise upwards. Both allies could already feel the frighteningly cold wind reaching their faces from the ocean, once the castle was located right next to it.

"Three... two... one... good riddance!"

The box was thrown through the window at an amazing speed. Nina and N. Tropy simply stood in the same bedroom, watching the crate fall down the castle, as it miraculously was able to arrive to the water without getting damaged by the irregular shore. However, when the master of time noticed that the box got turned in a particular position, he gritted his teeth.

"Damn it!"

"What's wrong, N. Tropy?"

"I forgot to cover the three holes from the box, since I planned the bandicoot to die from asphyxia." He admitted.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Nina began to laugh in a malicious manner. "The sharks will take care of him."

* * *

N. Sanity Island. 6:30 AM.

When the sun barely rose up from the horizon and the seagulls were happily flying across the island, Cade was still asleep. The crate had been stuck in the sand for quite some time, and it apparently landed on the famously quiet N. Sanity Beach. Once his consciouness finally returned from dreamland, Cade yawned, trying to stretch his arms as he normally used to do, only to find out that he... couldn't. That was when he first realized that he was actually trapped inside a box.

"What the...?" He widened his eyes.

Cade touched the crate with his hands. He attempted to find a way to get out of it, since he was starting to become paranoid for suffering claustrophobia, but only in the last minute he remembered to provide a forceful kick against the lid, which eventually allowed his freedom. Panting in fright, Cade stood up and decided to take a look at the strange surroundings around him. Ocean? Sand? Plants? Where in the world was he?

He became hopeful that the whole event was merely a prank, but the environment itself was so real that it couldn't be some type of hologram. Well, even if it was a prank, why would somebody put him inside a crate? And why Cortex's castle was nowhere to be seen? Unless...

"Oh, no." Cade shook his head in slow-motion. "No, no, no. No. This can't be happening. Not to me. Nuh-huh. This must be a nightmare. I believe it. This is a nightmare." Taking a deep breath with all of his strength, the bandicoot closed his eyes for a few moments to convince himself that the island was just a pure product of his imagination. Unfortunately, when he opened them again, the surreal image was still right in front of him. "Crap..."

Scared until the very last inches of his fur, Cade thought that it would be the best option for him to start thinking rationally. In order to come up with a solution to get him out of that island, he decided to search any sign of people, or in this scenario, engineered creatures. Much to his misfortune, no being seemed to be walking near that beach, which left him no choice but to face the biggest fear of his: the unknown.

"Calm down, Cade. You can do this; you're Cortex's special little guy, so you must be prepared for these kind of things sooner or later."

Running into the immense jungle, Cade passed through a wide variety of plants, trees and insects, including non-mutated small animals. He completely hated to step his red boots on the dirt and pointy rocks, along with spider webs he caught with his long snout that weren't a big motivation either. Just when he thought he wasn't going to survive an hour, Cade luckily finds an old hut, located approximately two kilometers from the shore.

"Help!" He screamed in despair, hitting the rounded wooden door with his fists repeatedly. "I'm stuck in this island and I don't even know how I ended up in here! HELP!"

Inside the hut, Crash's dream was disturbed in the second his ears detected the juvenile voice. When he hardly opened his green eyes in annoyance, the red-haired bandicoot leisurely got up from his hammock, with one hand behind his neck and the other rubbing his butt, as he lazily headed towards the entrance.

"Help! Hel-"

_BANG!_

Little did Crash know that he accidentally opened the door in a tremendous force, knocking the poor kid down with his back view totally laid on the ground. Woken up by the sudden rumble, the floating witchdoctor mask also flew from his sleeping spot until the entrance, where he became surprised at what he had just discovered.

"Crash, I think we have a visitor..." Aku Aku said.


	3. The Deal

At the time of the occurrence, Crash and Aku Aku decided to give a phone call to Crunch and Coco to see the unexpected event. Coming from a relatively near city, about thirty-five kilometers, Coco was a computer engineer in a successful company. Her blonde hair with curly tips was shorter, with her blue flower replaced by a silver hairpin. She no longer had overalls, dressed instead in a simple white T-shirt, dark-blue jeans, and just like her adoptive brother, combat boots. Crunch owned a local gymnasium, with his metallic arm that has been improved over the years, and he became accustomed to wear military pants. Crash, ironically, was the one of the three who changed the least; his red hair was longer and less spiky, which often covered his eyes, along with two golden piercings on his slightly damaged right ear. His brown fingerless gloves, blue jeans and ordinary reddish boots were almost brand new.

8:15 AM. Resting on Crash's hammock, Cade's mind was slowly returning to normal. Opening his eyelids with reluctance, with the headaches finally going away, he could hear several individuals discussing something related to him. His body seemed a ton heavier, probably because of the recent impact. When he eventually moved a leg, everybody stopped for a moment, but the red-haired bandicoot, who happened to stand close to Cade, startled him.

"C-C-Crash Bandicoot!" Cade jumped from the hammock, utterly astounded to see the Wumpa Islands' greatest hero face to face. Crash, on the other hand, simply stared at him with a perplexed expression.

"My child, how are you feeling?" Aku Aku asked, worried.

"A bit dizzy, but I'll be fine." He said, placing a hand on his forehead. "What happened to me to end up in this state?"

"You fainted. Crash opened the door in an abrupt manner, so he unintentionally hit your head." The voodoo mask clarified. In apology, Crash smiled nervously.

Crunch decided to approach the young bandicoot in a cautious way. A lot of questions passed through his mind, although there was a peculiar one that caught his attention. "How do you know who Crash is? I mean, it's not like you two ever met before..."

"Of course we have never met." Cade sneered. "I only know because my father talks about him day and night."

"Who's your father?" Coco inquired, curious.

"Wow, you guys must be some kind of hermits... I can't blame you, though, I was forced to live in Cortex's castle until some loser had the magnificent idea to put me inside a crate and throw me into the ocean."

"Neo Cortex is your father?!" Both Crunch and Coco gasped simultaneously. Crash didn't hear it at first, but then he opened his mouth in complete shock.

"Congratulations, you've won a free cookie!" Cade clapped sarcastically.

"That explains the lab coat..." Aku Aku recalled. "And the reason why we don't see Dr. Cortex for a good while."

"Let me get this straight..." The burgundy bandicoot put his hands in the air, trying to decipher the conversation. "Cortex kept you inside a castle, all of your life until this very moment, for what?"

"Duh, can't you tell? I'm going to be the next general of Cortex Commandos!"

Silence. A few seconds later, everyone in the one-floor house was bursting in ingenuous laughter, including the own witchdoctor. However, Cade didn't seem to like their reaction in the slightest.

"What's so funny, may I ask?" He folded his arms.

"You? A general?" Coco chuckled, aiming her finger at Cade. "Please, I'd believe more if it was a sixty-year-old lady."

"Yeah, since when whiny teenage bandicoots are able to take over the world?" Crunch added. "If that's how Cortex planned his 'best ultimate scheme ever', then he really doesn't learn from his mistakes."

"I agree." Aku Aku stated, while the red-haired bandicoot nodded.

"Look, just because this guy right here was a failure to Cortex," Cade pointed at Crash, who was now frowning at him. "Does not mean that _I_ have to be a failure as well. Understood?"

"Right..." Coco smirked.

"Good luck with that, kid." Crunch teased in disbelief.

"My name's Cade."

"Whatever."

"Children, children..." Aku Aku warned, trying to maintain a civilized posture inside the hut. "Cade might not be the person we thought he would be, but that doesn't give us the right to mock him. In fact, I'm the one who's rude for forgetting to introduce myself earlier."

"Yup, you're rude." As his ears barely caught the obvious sarcasm, Crash slapped Cade's nape. "Ouch..."

"I am Aku Aku, an ancient human spirit reincarnated in a mask, whose duty is to protect the Wumpa Islands, including this bandicoot family. Since you already know Crash due to his actions against the plans of Dr. Cortex and his henchmen, this is Coco, Crash's little sister whose speciality is both data processing and mechanics. She's also an experienced karate fighter, even though she can be a bit impatient at times. Crunch doesn't happen to be Crash's or Coco's biological brother, but his bionic arm and protective nature are what helped us to go through all these years, along with his change of heart after he has been brainwashed by Dr. Cortex once."

"Wait a minute..." Cade gazed at the floating mask. "Aku Aku? Your name sounds... familiar. Aren't you related to Uka Uka?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He confessed. "He's my younger evil twin brother."

"Evil?" He sniggered. "I wouldn't call him a saint, but he's more of a grumbler with anger issues than anything else. Speaking of evil, is anyone willing to take me back to the castle?"

Crash exchanged a serious yet thoughtful expression with his siblings. After a brief communication between them, the blonde female bandicoot spoke up.

"No offense, but why we should bring you back to your home?" Coco asked with half-closed eyes. Crash leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, looking at the young bandicoot with an attentive mind as Crunch crossed his muscular arms.

"Really?" Cade glared at them. "Do I need to explain you twice about what happened to me?"

"We know the whole story, Cade. We're heroes, not rednecks."

"Oh, I get it! Is it because I forgot to say 'please'?"

"It's because of your low-level arrogance." She finally said.

"Plus, how can we trust a guy who was raised by Cortex?" Crunch said. "After all, you may be coming up with a plan against us..."

"(Darn it. I was hoping those three to be stupid simpletons, but they got me wrong.)" He thought, putting his brain to work to solve the situation. "Very well, then. How about a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" Coco inquired once again.

"I was thinking to tell you my father's next scheme, in return of you helping me to arrive to Cortex Island."

"Hmm..." Crunch put a finger under his chin. "I don't know... you seem suspicious."

Cade sighed. It was true that he could've treated them better, since they were the people who offered their hospitality toward a stranger, although it wasn't his fault for abandoning the castle in such a bizarre way. As soon as the young bandicoot lowered his ears in hopelessness, Crash couldn't resist to feel bad for him, being the only one to reason with Aku Aku to give him a second chance.

"Considering the fact that Cade knows nothing about the geography of the islands, it would be the best for us to accompany him. But only under one condition:" Aku Aku declared, flying in Cade's direction. "If you tell us what Dr. Cortex is currently doing to stop Crash, we will do exactly as the following _after_ we prevent his plan. Not only we'll save the world, but we'll also bring you back home safe and sound."

Biting his lip in doubt, Cade decided. "I was hoping for you to say the 'before' word, but either way works fine for me. I prefer the castle over my dad any day, so..." He coughed. "Let's skip to the most important part. Yesterday, Cortex was lecturing me one of those boring lessons of his view about the world, and when I left the conference room, N. Brio entered inside. Even though I still don't know why I became curious at that precise moment, I stood behind the door to listen to their conversation. I found out that they're searching for some type of crystal called Blue Master Crystal, which is located in Cavern... Cavern..."

"Cavern Catastrophe?" The mask guessed.

"Exactly! If I recall correctly, it's located in the middle of N. Sanity Island."

"You _are_ in N. Sanity Island." Coco pointed out.

"Gee, I get it, give me a break." He rolled his eyes. "In a nutshell, my dad is seeking for that crystal to make a machine function, in order to vaporize Crash from existence, and the rest is history."

"Sounds legit to me." Crunch shrugged.

"What if he's lying, Aku Aku?" She asked, insecure. "Wouldn't the journey be risky?"

"I'm afraid I can't promise you anything, Coco." Aku Aku admitted. "However, I honestly believe that Cade is actually telling us the truth, since it's not the first time Dr. Cortex wants to harness crystals or any other source of energy for his goals." Once again, Crash nodded in agreement. "We need to leave right away."

"Already?" Cade raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. It will take more than three days just to achieve Cavern Catastrophe."

"Unless we travel by jeep." Coco suggested. "Mine is parked outside."

"Awesome!" Cade smiled ear to ear. "But, before we go... do you guys have some spare clothes? This lab coat is really driving me nuts."

Everyone - excluding Aku Aku of course - denied due to their significant different sizes, except for Crash who got an idea when he looked at his fingerless gloves.


End file.
